Cell body reorganization in the spinal cord after elective surgery to treat sweaty palms

The amount of compensatory sweating depends on the patient, the damage that the white rami communicans incurs, and the amount of cell body reorganization in the spinal cord after surgery.
Other potential complications include inadequate resection of the ganglia, gustatory sweating, pneumothorax, cardiac dysfunction, post-operative pain, and finally Horner’s syndrome secondary to resection of the stellate ganglion.
www.ubcmj.com/pdf/ubcmj_2_1_2010_24-29.pdf

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Louise Field, 27, died after ETS surgery

Louise Field, 27, died after ETS surgery (1/3) | VerySweatyBetty.com: "A ‘fit and healthy’ young woman was left brain dead after a pioneering operation to reduce her excessive sweating went catastrophically wrong, a medical panel has heard. Louise Field, 27, suffered severe brain damage when doctors accidentally punctured her lung and pumped gas into her stomach, the General Medical Council heard. She died two days later. Vascular surgeon Dr Michael Ormiston and anaesthetist Dr Wasfy Yanny face a catalogue of charges arising from the bungled operation at a Bupa Hospital in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

Dr Ormiston, who had carried out the operation a handful of times, first punctured the keen sportswoman’s lung with a needle then pumped carbon dioxide into her stomach. Dr Yanny failed to take action when Ms Field’s oxygen levels dropped dangerously low and should have realised this damaged the patient’s brain, the hearing was told. Ms Field had


Louise Field
chosen to undergo an operation to reduce heavy sweating on her hands and feet, the GMC heard.
Sarah Plaschkes, for the GMC, told the hearing: ‘She was born on February 18, 1975, and was to die tragically on March 22, 2002, aged just 27. ‘She was fit and healthy and played a lot of sport however she was embarrassed by excessive sweating of the hands and feet."



'via Blog this'

Stellate Ganglion Block for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder | Psychiatric Annals

Stellate Ganglion Block for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder | Psychiatric Annals: "SGB has been shown to have utility for diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic purposes for a variety of conditions, including: chronic regional pain syndrome types I and II to the upper extremities (CRPS I and II); chronic and acute vascular insufficiency/occlusive vascular disorders of the upper extremities, such as Raynaud’s disease, intra-arterial embolization and vasospasm. SGB has also been found an effective treatment for poor lymphatic drainage and local edema of the upper extremity following breast surgery; postherpetic neuralgia; and phantom limb pain or amputation stump pain. Patients with quinine poisoning; sudden hearing loss and tinnitus; hyperhidrosis of the upper extremity; cardiac arrhythmias and ischemic cardiac pain; Bell’s palsy and a variety of orofacial pain syndromes, including neuropathic orofacial pain and trigeminal neuralgia; vascular headache such as cluster and migraine headaches; and neuropathic pain syndromes among cancer patients are all also candidates for SGB.2,3,12–16

SGB has also been recommended for improving blood flow to the cranium for angiography and following stroke/cerebrovascular accident and hyperhidrosis to the upper extremities.13,14 Additionally, SGB’s use has been reported in the treatment of Ménière’s syndrome3 and hot flashes.17–19"



https://archive.today/yOe5b

Friday, May 30, 2014

"He knows the procedure is controversial because of the unpredictability of side-effects"

Information about surgery for sweaty hands: surgeon "knows the procedure is controversial because of the unpredictability of side-effects"



"Ferrar believes much of the controversy lies in surgeons, mainly in America, who perform the surgery on anyone who asks for it, rather than the severe end of the spectrum.
"In America there are so many that have been operated on when it hasn't been necessary, or the surgeon has given the patient false expectations, that there are support groups for people who've had complications or adverse effects. The people that come to me are almost self-selecting; they've tried everything else."
The youngest patient he has performed an endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy on was 8 years old, with most being in puberty (when the condition tends to arise). Or they are in their 20s when they are beginning relationships and jobs."



Publication info: Waikato Times [Hamilton, New Zealand] 07 Apr 2012: 22."

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Chest pain, chest hypersensitivity, arm pain, paraesthesias of the upper limb and the thoracic wall, and recurrent pain in the axillary region have all been described

"Chest pain, chest hypersensitivity, arm pain, paraesthesias of the upper limb and the thoracic wall, and recurrent pain in the axillary region have all been described. Intra-operative intrapleural analgesia using bupivacaine can help reduce postoperative pain. Using a 5 mm rather than 1cm post causes less postoperative discomfort, particularly in women with narrow intercostal spaces.

Complications in Vascular and Endovascular Surgery: How to avoid them and how to get out of trouble


Jonothan J Earnshaw, Michael Wyatt,

tfm Publishing Limited, Jan 1, 2012 - Medical - 318 pages"


Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Sympathectomy is by no means a benign procedure, and sympathectomy for sweating can induce pain and allodynia

"Sympathectomy is by no means a benign procedure, and sympathectomy for sweating can induce pain and allodynia at the border zone which is sometimes associated with pronounced increase in sweating in that area." (p. 534) Surgical Disorders of the Peripheral Nerves by Rolfe Birch Springer, Jan 21, 2011 - Medical - 512 pages original article published in Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2002; 84:181-184"

Sunday, May 4, 2014

the autonomic nervous system varies in a unique, autonomous manner, and it is therefore difficult to assess changes in patients in a uniform manner

There are several reasons that stellate ganglion block affects the cardiovascular system. Stellate ganglion block will initially affect both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems based on the degree of block. The intensity of right stellate ganglion blockage of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system will result in heart rate changes and altered activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. Efferent sympathetic innervation from the right stellate ganglion is primarily distributed over the sinus node of the heart, and the influence of the autonomic nervous system and left stellate ganglion block should be assessed. Further, results will be affected by the health status of participants.
Although efferent sympathetic nerves from the stellate ganglion are primarily distributed over the heart, efferent sympathetic fibers from the 2nd to 5th thoracic ganglia affect the heart as well. Accordingly, the autonomic nervous system of the heart is not completely dependent on the stellate ganglia. The influence of the autonomic nervous system cannot be excluded as well. It is worth noting that the mepivacaine in the present study was a lower dosage than those used in other studies. Finally, the autonomic nervous system varies in a unique, autonomous manner, and it is therefore difficult to assess changes in patients in a uniform manner or just through the application of one or two indicators. Future studies should examine diverse methods for the assessment of autonomic nervous system function.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2872892/

Thursday, May 1, 2014

peripheral sympathectomy causes a dramatic increase in NGF levels in the denervated organs

Increased Nerve Growth Factor Messenger RNA and Protein

Peripheral NGF mRNA and protein levels following
sympathectomy
It has been shown previously that peripheral sympathectomy
causes a dramatic increase in NGF levels in the denervated
organs
 (Yap et al., 1984; Kanakis et al., 1985; Korsching and
Thoenen, 1985).
Increased ,&Nerve Growth Factor Messenger RNA and Protein
Levels in Neonatal Rat Hippocampus Following Specific Cholinergic
Lesions
Scott R. Whittemore,” Lena Liirkfors,’ Ted Ebendal,’ Vicky R. Holets, 2,a Anders Ericsson, and HBkan Persson
Departments of Medical Genetics and’ Zoology, Uppsala University, S-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden, and *Department of
Histology, Karolinska Institute, S-104 01 Stockholm, Sweden